Conveyer



W. W. SAYERS June 22, 1943.

CONVEYER Filed March A5, 1941 l0 Sheets-Sheet l Milian June 22, 1943. iw. w. sAYERs CONVEYER Filed March 5, 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 ru m 0 2. m0 l wf f w M@ J o W )u i s0 WW1.: lumi Il l I lllllilW/.Tllllll 7 y a af 3 wz 2 2 e uw w A. F s 4 w H4 L e nl ill! Il l l I I HHHII w w y 4 M wJune 22, 1943. w. w. sAYERs 2,322,473

' CONVEXER Filed March 5, 1941 v 10 Sheets-Sheet 3 MWM'IMW W June 22,1943. w, w- .sAYERs 2,322,473

I CONVEYER Filed March 5, 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 22, 1943. v w. w.sAYERs CONVEYER Filed March 5, 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 i dif June 22,1943. w. w. sAYERS CONVEYER 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 5, 1941 lklllr HouwAA June 22, 1943. w. w. sAYEs coNvmER Filed March 5, 1941 l0Sheets-Sheet 7 June 22, 1943. w. w. sAYERs 2,322,473

GONVEYER Filed March 5, 1941 l0 Sheets-Sheet 8 Milln/flyer:

W. W. SAYERS CONVEYER 10 Sheets-Sheet 9 June 22, 1943.

Filed March 5, 1941 @ffmw I W. W. SAYERS June 22, 1943.

coNvEYER.

Fileduarch 5, 1941 1o sheets-sheet 1o Patented June22, 1943V UNITEDSTATES PpzrEN'r l OFFICE.

A:saam conversa wma-1w. sum, mammal-uno: aunk- Belt Company, a molltionoflllilmia application nach s, 1941, 4serial No.4 :81,914

s cnam. (ci. iss- 1w 'rms invention relates to new and usefu11mprovementsin conveyers adapted to transport in bink nowable materialswhich may take the forni of lumps, granules, powders, or othercomminuted particles.

The bulk transportation of nowable materials by means of solid nightspresents several troublesome problems when the path of movement of thematerials includes either a truly vertical or a steeply inclined portionand the materials are intended to be discharged by gravity from the partof the casing which dennes that portion of the path. These dinlcultiesare all traceable to the need for completely emptying each night when itreaches the place in the casing where the material is to be discharged,or before passing over the head sprocket. If the nights are notcompletely empty each time they pass the point of discharge, thematerial remaining thereon is f carried over the head wheel andspilled-into the vide conveyer mechanism which is adapted to transportnowable materials in bulk by means of nights which are so shaped and areattached manner that the nights will be emptied oi.' all 0f the materialfor discharge through an openinginowailoiftheverticaleasinglegeithei'asal result oi' withdrawal of thelateral support aifordedby-thecasingorasaresultoftraveloi" the nightsaround theluphill quarter sectionoftheheailwheelsothatnomaterialwillbecarriedovertothereturnlegoithecaslngwhilethe'conveyer is operated at speeds which will pro#4 'vide entirelysatisfactory maximum capacities. v,

These nights also will empty themselves from a horizontal podtion whenused in a horilontal conveyor which by a por-V Y lateral support.

`conveyers which have their nights attached at their inner or rear edgeportions to nexible transmission members and with the material movingsurfaces oi the nights so shaped and arranged as to eilect gravitationaldischarge of the mate--4 rials laterally and outwardly of the path ofthe member when the lateral support anorded by thecasing is withdrawn,thereby reducing to a minimum the percentage of thema- 10 terial whichis spilled in an inward direction around the transmission member andfurther to split andspread laterallyy relative to the transmissionmember material which is spilled over the rear edges of the nights asthe latter travel 1l around the head wheel.

A still further object of the invention is to provide conveyers fortransporting nowable materials in bulk by means oi? nights which arecapa-V ble of completely cleaning out casings that inl clude verticallyextending legs after feeding oi the material has been stopped and whichare so shaped as to prevent the development of excessive'side pressuresor wedsing action against the .wallsoi the vertical casinglegs aswellastoprell vent the development of noise caused by the nights jumping orvibrating as they are drawn over the walls of horizontally arrangedcasing tothelinksoftheonchaininsucha Other objects and advantages of theinvention s will be apparent during the course ofthe followingdescription. i y

In the accompanying drawings forminga part of this specincation and inwhich like numerals -areemployedtodesisnatelikepartsthroughoutIlthe'same,

Figurelisavertiealsectionalviewoithe head section of a conveyer or aconveyer-elevator casing with one form of material transportingmechanism associated therewith,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the conveyer-structure shown inPig. 1 but taken at right angles to this latter ngure,

Figure 3 is a detail view, partly in vertical section and partly in sideelevation of the material 4lltransporting mechanism shown inFlss. 1 and2.

50 Flgure6isaviewsimilartoFig.5buttaken Y at a different plane to thesectional view' ci Fig. 5.Ali'igure'Ilsaviefwsimilarizoliig.S'outillustrates a slightly modinedform of conveyer night,

Figure 8' is a detail view, partly in vertical sec- Anntner object ofuns invention is m provide umi non and partly 1n Sme elevation, ofmittenti through the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 11.

Figure 13 is a viewfsimilar to Fig. 12 but taken at a different plane tothe plane of the latter ngure,

Figure 14 is a detail perspective view of one form of night disclosed inFigs. to 12, inclusive,

Figure 15 is a detail perspective view of the other form of nightdisclosed in Figs. 10, 11, and 12,

Figure 16 is a detail view, partly in vertical section ,and partly inside elevation, of material transporting mechanism which includes adinerent assembly of nights to that disclosed in Figs. 10 and 11,although it includes one of the two forms of nights shown in theselatter ngures,

Figure 17 .is a view similar to Fig. 16 but taken at right anglesthereto,

Figure 18 is a detail view, partly in vertical section and partly inside elevation, of material transporting mechanism which includesfurther modined forms of nights,

4Figure 19 is a view similar to Fig. 18 but taken at right anglesthereto,

Figure 20 is a detail transverse sectional view l taken through oneplane of the mechanism ofv f Fig. 19,

Figure 21 is a view similar to Fig. 20 but taken at a dinerent planefrom this latter ngure,

Figure 22 is a detail perspective view of one of the two forms of nightsdisclosed in Figs. 13 and 19, and

Figure 23 is a detail perspective view of the other form of nightdisclosed in Figs. 18 and 19.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration are shown thepreferred embodiments of this invention, and nrst referring particularlyto Figs. 1 and 2, the reference character 5 designates in its entiretythe head section of a casing of a conveyer which, for example, may be ofthe L-type conveyer-elevator or of the loop-.boot type elevator. Thiscasing head section will not be described in detail because it is fullydisclosed and claimed in the patent to Ferdinand F`.` `Waechter, No.2,235,856, issued March 25, 1941.

Insofar as the present invention is concerned,`

this casing head section includes a discharge chamber 6 Winch is definedby the side walls 1, the sloping discharge chute 8, and the outer orfront wall 9. This front wall is interrupted by the distion 8d. It willbe noted by inspecting the two aforementioned gures that the innerportion of the main body part 8a extends inwardly as welll as upwardlyso as to underlie the shaft II that carries and drives the head sprocketwheelvl2. The discharge chute extension 8c is inclined at a greaterangle than the main body portion 8a and extends above the bottom deadcenter of thi head wheel I2 to lie on opposite sides of this head wheel.The slot 8d formed in this extension of the discharge chute accommodatesthe teeth ot the head wheel as they travel downwardly and inwardly ofthe shaft I I.

The main body portion 8a of the discharge chute has formed in orattached to its inner portion a flow splitting wedge I3 which functionsto divide and spread laterally any material which is discharged over theinner edges of nights as they pass around the uphill quarter section ofthe head wheel I2. This splitting and lateral spreading of the inwardlydischarged material directs the latter into the side portions of themain part 8a of the discharge chute so that it will pass around theoutlet end I4 of the vertical casing leg I5 through which the conveyedmaterial is raised to be emptied into the discharge chamber 6. Thisactive leg of the casing is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and in otherfigures to be referred to later, as being of rectangular formation intransverse section. It is to be understood, however, that the variouscasing legs can be square in transverse section `as well as rectangular.Such a change in shape of the casing leg sections will in no way modifythe mode of operation or results accomplished by the several' forms ofnights which will be described in detail as this disclosure of theinvention proceeds.

This casing leg I5 includes a rear wall I6, a

`front wall I1, and two side walls I8. Due to the inclination of themain body portion 8a of the discharge chute and the fact that the activecasing leg I5 does not extend above the inclined plane of the dischargechute, the upper margin or end of the casing leg is beveled on or cutdiagonally as shown with the result that the top edge of theinner orrear wall I6 extends above the top edge of the outer or front Wall I1while the top edges of the side walls I8 are inclined.

The return path of the material transporting mechanism is denned by theupper portion of the v discharge chute 8a and the extension 8c as wellas by the rear wall I9 of the casing head section and the inner orrearwall I6 o'f the active casing leg I5. This path constitutes the start orupper end of the return leg of the casing.

In Fig. 2 the shaft II for the head wheel l2 is illustrated as extendingoutside of the casing head section to be supported by the bearings 20. Asuitable drive element 2 I, shown as a sprocket wheel 4but which may be'a belt pulley, is suitably attached to one end of the shaft whichextends beyond one of the bearings.

Referring-now to Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, there is disclosed one form ofmaterial transportingmechanism which embodies this invention. Thismechanism includes a transmission or drive chain which is made up of theseveral articulated links 22. The trailing end of each one 'of theselinks, as is best illustrated in Fig.v 2, includes spaced ears 2'3 whichare adapted to receive the single lear 24 of the leading end of the nextsucceeding link. A suitable chain pin 25 is employed to complete eachchain joint and passes through the pitch` holes of the aligned ears. Itwill be noted by inspecting the several figures that the intermediateportions of the several links are of Wedge shape in transverse sectionso that they will shed material which might otherwise come to rest onthese portions of the links and be carried over the head wheel I2 to bedischarged -down the return leg of the casing. The several o, lugs.

views disclose the trailingior double earedfend v of each link as beingprovided with an attachment llug 26 which is employed for securing anight to the link. lIt will be noted that all of these attachment lugs2l are of the same shape and any one ofthe different types of nightswhich will be described in connection with Figs. 1- to 46, inclusive,may be attached to any one of these The importance of this feature willbe better understood as the nights are described in detail.

' In'addition to the transmission or drive chain formed of the linksv22, `the material tranSpOrting mechanism of Figs. l to 6, inclusive,includes solid nights which are capable of moving solid nowablematerials in bulk when the transportl ing mechanism is confined withinan active casing leg against gravitational discharge. In the assembly ofthese ngures, two different types of nights are disclosed. They are whatwill be occupy slightly more than one-half the crosssectional area ofthe casing. To enable them to be properly fastened to the attachmentlugs of the chain, they should overlap the full width of the chainattachment lug. As the transmission or drive chain follows a pathclosely adjacent the inner wall It of the active casing leg, eachhalffiight should extend to one side wall Il and to the outer wall l1 tocooperate with 'the entire width of this side wall and an appropriatepor- -tion of the 4front wall. The amount of clearance left betweenthese outer edges of the half nights and the cooperating walls of thecasing leg will depend entirely upon the character of the material4being transported. v

By inspecting theseveralngures, itwillbeseen that these half nights arearranged on opposite sides or the path traversed by su or the nights 'iso that alternate nights 21 may be considered as right-hand nights, whenviewed from the front or outer side of the casing head section, whilethe remaining nights 2l will be left-hand nights.

Itwillbenotedparticularlybyinspectlngliig.i!

that these half nights 21 and 2l Vare staggered with respect to eachother and they overlap in Y the direction of travel for only a portion'of their width. Of course, the extent of overlap' may bevariedasdesiredbyincreasingordthe transverse dimensions of these halfnights or by modifying their points of connection with the.

. attachment lugs 28 ofthe chain. As shown, these half nights occupyslightly more than one-half.

the area of the active casing lesil. y Y

Theexterior surfaceofeach v moving one of'theeehalf nights 21 or!! iscompletely inclined mum' it will epm orsned material when the lateralsupportaiforded Vby the walls of a casing leg is withdrawn. Each-one ofthese half nights is provided with an inclined surface portion 2l whichfaces to the front or t'o the outer side ofv a casing leg. YTheremaining portion of the material moving surface of each one'ofthesehalfnightsisdesignatedbythereferf i ence character 3l, anditwill be noted that these side surface portions extend toward the sidewalls ltofanassociatedcasingleg. Duetotheina'nd the side surfaceportions 2l and 3|, mpegtively, the material discharged by gravitythereproximately 37. Y

"clination of these outer or front surface portions fromwill be spilledeither outwardly'sway from is the path of the transmission or drivechain or laterally of this path. In other words, no material will bedischarged toward the chain while thc nights are traveling through astraight or inclined path in the discharge chamber 6 of the casing headsection as a result of the inclination of these surfaces.

It will be noted that the outer edge 3| of each outer or front surfaceportion 28 and the outer or lateral edge 32 of each side surface portionIl' of any one half night are arranged in a. common plane. As will beseen by inspecting Fig. 5. the outer or frontsurface portions 2a aredeeper than the lateral or side surface portions Il. This dinerence in'dimension, in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, is due to theshape and size of the chain links and casing section. Because of thisparticular difference in dimen-- sion, the inclination of the lateral orside surface portions 30 will be greater than. the angle of inclinationof the outer or front surface portions y 23 or the extreme outer edgesti and 32 could not occupy a common plane. .Howeven other combinationsof chain link and casing shapes and sizes will require dinerent relativeangles of inclination for the surface portions 28 and III to locate theedges 3| and I2 in a common plane.

As it is the function of these inclined surface portions 28 and 3l todischarge the material in the discharge chamber I of the casing so thatno material will be carried over the'head wheel and down the returncasing leg, the angle of inclina'- tion of the surface portions 29 and30 should be sufficient to accomplish this desired result. DueV to thecoaction between the chain links and the teeth of the head wheel, aswell as the manner of attaching thel nights to the lugs of the respective links, it is not necessary for the angle of inclination of thesurfaceportions 29 and lll to be equal to the greatest angle of -reposeof material which is to befhandled,by this type of conveyer. It isconsidered that an angle of inclination of approximately 30A for thefront or outer surface portion 29 will be sunicient for mostmaterials,and for that reason this angle has been Aadopted for thepresent illustration of the invention. It willbe understood. however,thatI am not to be limited tothis particular angle. With the dimensionsor proportions disclosed in Pigs. 1 to 6,-inclusive, the angle ofinclination of the lateral or side -surface It is to be imderstood thatthe of nothing lbut these staggered right-hand and left-hand y halfnights'throughout the entire length of the .on or power chain fallswithin the con-'- cept Aof this inventionandunder certain .operatingconditions, in handling certain types of materials, nothing but thesehalf nights need be".` provided. Under other operating conditions. andin handling other types of materials; it is f' Believed to be advisable'to employ a fun' night at certain of the pitches of the The number oflfull nights employed may be varied to take care of different conditions.

These-full nights are attached to their respecuve einem so as to extendto the front, A or outwardly, of the path of Vtravel of the conveyer.chain and to both sides of, or laterally in opposite directions withrespect to, this path.- These., full nights are intended to fully occupythecross-sectional area of an active casing leg with, Yof course, theproper amount of clearancei v left between each of its three outer edgesand the cooperatingwalisoi'the cssingleg to'take careof the differenttypes of materials to be handled by dinerent conveyers. Each one ofthese full nights includes an outer or front inclined, ma-l terialmoving surface portion 34 and two lateral or side, inclined, exteriormaterial moving surfaces 35. It will be noted that the outer edges 33and 31, respectively, of these surface portions are all arranged in acommon plane. Therefore, the angie of inclination of the outer or frontsurfacev portions 3| and the angle of inclination of the side surfaceportions 35 will correspond with the surfaces for the half nights.

These full nights 33 may be employed for performing either one or bothof two functions. When handling certain types of material, the halfnights are not entirely satisfactory for quickly performing theoperation of completely empthat the material being .handled by theconveyer has an angle of repose of 45. Of course, if the angle of reposeof the material is only 30, or is less than 30, the' inclination of thesurface porl' tions of the nights vwill be sunicient to completely tyingor cleaning out the vertical active leg of a4 casing after feeding ofmaterial to the conveyer has been stopped. Under such conditions, asuitable number of full nights 33 may be employed for quicklyaccomplishing this emptying or cleaning outoperation.

It will be appreciated that throughout the entire section or portion ofa chain which is provided with nothing but half nights, a continuous,zig-zag space is provided foi` the conveyed material. On each side ofthe conveyer chain, a chamber is provided for material which extendsbetween the two adjacent alternate nights; l. e., between two adjacentright-hand nights or between two adjacent left-hand nights. These spacesrepresent two pitches in length, and they are laterally connected attheir opposite end portions with the next adjacent, two-pitch, spaces.

To the extent to which adjacent rightand lefti hand flights overlap, inthe direction of travel of the chain. the spaces formed between thenights are only one pitch in length.

In handling certainmaterials which settle and pack to a considerableextent when being conveyed through a vertically extending leg of acasing, it has been found to be desirable to break up or interrupt thecontinuity of the continuous, zig-zag material conveying space providedby a stretch of half nights by employing iull nights. Due to the factthat each full night substantially entirely nils the cross sectionalarea of a conveyer casing leg, the head" of the material above a fullnight will not be delivered to the material located rearwardly of such anight.

The disclosure of Fig. 1 will be employed in explaining the manner inwhich this type of night is completely emptied of conveyed materialbetween the time it emerges from the upper end f of the active casingleg I5 and the time it reaches the topI dead center of the head wheelI2. The small illustrated portion of the casing leg in this ngureclearly shows the manner in which the solid nowable material istransporten through the leg I5 in bulk. The material transporting ymechanism is shown in this figure with one lefthand half night 28entirely withdrawn from the upper end of the casing leg I5 while thenext succeeding right-hand half night 21 is positioned so that it hasstarted to move out of the casing leg. Slightly more than one-half ofthe material initially positioned between these two adjacent nights hasalready been spilled onto the discharge spill or empty all material assoon as the nights have moved entirely out of the vertical casingleg,and no material c will remain on any nights.

This material-c is supported in part by the surface portions of theleft-hand half night 28 and,

is supported inwardly by the perpendicular front or outer face 38 of thenow splitting wedge I3. The top of this wedge is provided with laterallysloping surface portions 38a which converge to a peak or ridge line 38h.The right-hand half night 21, which precedes the left-hand night 28carrying the material c, has moved into a position where itishorizontally aligned with the upwardly converging surfaces 38a of thenow splitting wedge. As nights moveupwardly of this wedge, the rearsupport afforded by the outer or front wall 38 of the wedge is graduallywithdrawn and material d is allowed to spill inwardly of a night ontothe wedge surfaces 38a and from these surfaces onto the discharge chute8.

The material which remains on the half nights after they have passedabove the peak or ridge line 38h of the wedge I3 is indicated by thereference character e for the next preceding lefthand and right-handhalf nights 28 and 21, respectively.

It was explained that material a and the difference in the amount of thetwo bodies of material b and c will be spilled from between adjacentnights solely as a result of these nights passing out of the upper endof the vertical casing leg I5. The total amount of the material spilledin this manner, of course, depends on the dimensions of thecross-sectional area of the casing leg I5 and the distance between nightportions which overlap in the direction of travel of the transportingmechanism. By using staggered half nights for at least the major portionof the length of the conveyer chain, the amount of material emptied as aresult of withdrawing the lateral support afforded by the side walls ofthe casing leg I5 is materially increased.

It will be understood that the material e must be entirely emptied fromthe respective nights before the nights pass the top dead center of thehead wheel I2 to eliminate any possibility of any of this material beingcarried over to and down the return leg of the conveyer.

Fig. 1 discloses a chain link 22 with both of its joints engaged byteeth of the head wheel I2. The trailing end of this link has aleft-hand, half night 28 rigidly attached thereto. The leading end ofthis link 28 is attached to the trailing end of the next preceding linkwhich is provided with a right-hand, half night 21. As soon as eachchain link has both of its joints engaged by teeth of the head wheel I2,the link has assumed an angle which will bring about a change ininclination ofthe front and side surfaces 29 and 30 of the night. Inthis particular illustration, the front or outer surface portion 29 ofthe left-hand, half night 28 has had its angle of inclination reducedfrom 30 to approximately 5. As the nights travel around the, uphillquarter section o f the head wheel I2, the

. casing head section.

w 3,333,473 side surface portions change position so that the inneredges of these surface portions become the bottom edges while the outeredges of these surment lug 2|. '1m-principal difference betweenmutypeofnaumghcmdtnenaumghts 21.

and 22 previously described is the location and arrangement of the bendlines l2 formed by the angular-ly arranged surface portions 4| and 42.In this Fig. 'l modincation, these bend lines extend from the extremeouter corners 'of the nights back to theinner corners of the'chainlinks. This arrangement of the bend lines brings edge 32 into one whichis parallel to this botf tom edge. Due to this change of direction' ofinclination, the angle of inclination also changes. For example, theangle of inclination of the left-hand half night 28, which issubstantially horizontally aligned with the shaft Il, is

approximately Although the angles of inclination of both surfaceportions of this night 2l havebeen reduced, the center of gravity of thebody of material e has been shifted so that material f-willbe spilledinwardly or rearwardly of the flight to leave the small amount ofmaterial g still resting on the night.

The next preceding right-hand, half night 21 l is illustrated in aposition in which its outer or front portion 29 has assumed an angle ofinclination of 45" while the side surface portion 2l has assumed anangle of approximately' '15". Due to this increase in angle ofinclination, all of the remaining material will be spilled 0r emptiedfrom the night, as is indicated by the reference character h.\

Due to the fact that all of the material which is spilled inwardly orrearwardly of any of the flightsfmust pass over the laterally inclinedside surfaceportions 30 in moving around the links of the chain, thisinwardly or rearwardly discharged material is directed laterally awayfrom the path of `the chain.

The remaining figures of the drawings disclose either modified forms ofnights or modined night assemblies. 'Ihese additional illustrations donot. include disclosures of the casing head section shown in Figs. 1 and2. It is to be undersmod, however, that all of these modined nights/andmodined night assemblies are to be about an increase in the total areaof each front or outer surface portion 4I and a reduction in the totalarea of each side or lateral surface por- !Eion l2.

It will be appreciated that full nights of the type shown in Fig-6 canbe modined in the manner illustrated inFlg. 7, i. e., by the bendlines.'

A material transporting mechanism made up .of nights of thecharacterillustrated in Fig. 'I substituted for the nights shown inFigs. 1 and 2 will operate in practically the samemanner as theassembly' of these last mentioned ngures. The'only apparent differenceis that the body of material e, in being spilled over the inner edges ofthe nights, be innuenced to a slightly greater extent bythe outer orfront surface portions Ii than is the case with the nrst described typesof nights. l.

Figures 8 and 9 disclose a material transporting mechanism in which eachpitch is provided with a full night Il. In other words, no half nightsare employed in this assembly and, of course, the advantages obtained byemploying half nights are not present for this assembly. The full nights23 are exactly the same as the nights which bear the same referencecharacterA .Y

' in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, and 6.

. used in combination with half nights and thereby varying the number ofhalf nights provided inastretchbetween adjacentfullnights.- Itis to beunderstood that all of these obvious modiused-in place of the materialtransporting mechanismactually shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when aconveyeremploying these modifications is assembled. To avoid undulymultiplying the drawings, each night modincation is disclosed incombination with an active casing leg section I5 but not in combinationwith the remaining elements of a However, in construing claims whichrefer to these casing head section elements which are not disclosed inFigs. "I to 25, inclusive; they should not be limited to the form of theinvention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, if the remaininglimitations of the claimswill read on other modifications. In otherwords, claims which recite casing head section elements not actuallydisclosed in Figs.

l to 25, inclusive, can be generic t the modi--V flcations disclosed inthese latter figures.

Fig. 7 discloses a slightly modined form of half nicht assemblyincluding one right-hand night 22 and a left-hand` night Il. Each one ofthese Vnights includesa completely inclined, exterior material movingsurface which is made up of a ncations are contemplated and fallwithinthe they cooperate with casing legs and chain links which are ofrectangular formation in transverse section.

Indus modmcanmornss. loto 15, inemsiw,

thelinksofthechainareidmticalwiththelinksofthenguresandthereferencecharacter 22 will be applied thereto.-However, the night attachmenthigsmustbeof slightly dinerent shape fromthose previously disclosed and described. Thelugswillb'eidentined by thereference character Il.

The' right-hand, half nights of this ly will -be d by the referencecharacter II.

' while the left-hand, half nights will be designated by the referencecharacter 4l. 'Ihe full nightswillbell. lachoneofthe half nights 45 or46 is provided with a front or outer material moving surface portion 48and a side or lateral material moving surface portion 49. An angle of 30has been selected in these figures. To obtain this same angle ofinclination for these angularly arranged surface portions, it isnecessary to shape or Warp the nights to provide inwardly diverging bendlines 50 and 5l. The material moving surface portions 52 providedbetween these bend lines have a transverse as well as a longitudinalinclination. When the nights are traveling up vertical paths, theresultant inclination of the surface portions 52 is such that they willtend to spill material onto the sides or lateral surface portions 49.While the nights-are traveling around the uphill quarter section of ahead wheel, these surface portions will assist in denecting materialdischarged from these front or outer surface portions 48 laterally awayfrom the path of the chain. To permit all of the attachment lugs 44 tobe of the same shape for both rightand left-hand half nights, as well asfor the full nights, an extra surface portion 53 is formed on each halfnight and is provided by a short bend line 54. These extra surfaceportions 53 may be omitted if desired and a small gap left between theface of a lug and the back of the flight portion which would correspondwith a portion 53.

It will be apparent from inspecting Figs. 11, 13, and 14, that the fullnights 41 are provided with front or outer material moving surfaceportions 58 and side or lateral material moving surface portions 59. Inbetween these surface portions 58 and 59 are triangularly shaped surfaceportions 60 which are provided by forming the folds I and 62 to permitthe surface portions 58 and 59 to be inclined at the same angle.

A further advantage obtained by warping these half and full nights toprovide two folds between each front or outer surface portion and eachside or lateral surface portion is that less sharp angles are providedthan with the single folds of the preceding forms of nights. In fact,these corners or bends can be rounded off to a radius il' desired.

The operation of the nights of the assembly shown in Figs. to 15,inclusive, should be readily understood by anyone skilled in the artfrom the description given in connection with the apparatus of Figs. 1and 2. These nights of Figs. 10 to '15, inclusive, will be emptied orwill spill the transported material in the manner described inconnection with Fig. l. 'I'he full nights 41 are provided with front orouter edges 63 while the side or lateral surface portions 59 spill theirmaterial over the outer edges 64. It will be noted by inspecting Figs.10 and 11 that the outer edges will spill their material over their'respective outer edges 64. All of the material discharged by gravityfrom the surface portions of these nights,

therefore, will be directed either laterally or outwardly away from thepath* of travel of the conveyer chain links 22.

Figs. 18 to 23, inclusive, illustrate a further modined form of materialtransporting mechanism insofar as the shape or character of the nightsis concerned. Like the preceding assemblies shown in Figs. 1 to 6,inclusive, and 10 to 15, inclusive, this mechanism includes both halfnights and full nights. The principal difference between the nights ofthis form and the nights which have been described heretofore is thatthe present nights are warped by dies into their desired shapes withoutforming any bends or corner angles. Because the outer, material spillingedges of all of the material moving surface portions are arranged in acommon plane for any given night and are straight to the extent thatthey will lie in parallelism with the cooperating walls of a casing, thenights are not merely sections cut from cones and yet the nights arecurved circumferentially. Starting with a mini- 'mum angle ofinclination which will exist along an imaginary radius extending from acorner point, formed by adjacent angular outer edges, to the center orapex, the inclination will increase circumferentially in oppositedirections until maximum angles are reached. The maximum angles ofinclination will be encountered along radial lines which are displacedapproximately from the aforementioned minimum angle radial line. Forexample, if the nights are shaped to provide a minimum angle ofinclination of approximately 30, the maximum angle of inclination willbe approximately 45 or if we start out with a minimum angle ofinclination of approximately 20, the maximum angle of inclination willbe approximately 30. In the front and side elevational views given inFigs. 18 and 19, the maximum angle of inclination is illustrated for theseveral half nights and the full nights. In

55 and 56 of the half nights as well as the outer the full nights shownin Figs. 10, 11, 13, and 14,

the same reference characters will be applied to all of the elements inFigs. 16 and 17. The outer or front material moving surface portions 58of these full nights, of course, will spill the conveyed material overtheir outer edges 63 while the lateral or side material moving surfaceportions 59 keeping with the disclosures of the preceding ures, thismaximum angle is 30 and the minimum angle of inclination provided by anynight. therefore, will be 20.

In these various ngures, the chain is still made up of links 22. As thenight attaching lugs must be of slightly different shape on their topsurfaces, the reference character 65 will be emlap, in the direction oftravel of the conveyer chain, to an amount which equals the width of thesaid chain end. Although the entire material moving surface of each oneof these half nights 66 and 61 is curved throughout its entirecircumferential dimension, it can be considered that each night'has afront or outer material moving surface portion 68 and a side or lateralmaterial moving surface portion 69. The front or outer material movingsurface portions 68 spill material over their Outer edges 10 while theside or lateral material moving surface portions 59 spill material overtheir outer edges 1|.

Figs. 18, 19, 21, and 22disclose the frm of full material moving surfaceportion. y

It will be noted from a consideration of the night which is employed inthis assembly. This fullnight whatcanbeconsideredasa front or outermaterial moving surface portion I2 and two side or lateral materialmoving surface portions 13. 4 The front or outer 4surface portions 'I0spill their material over outer edges 'Il while the side or lateralsurfaces spill materialovertheir outer edges 1I.

It will be appreciated that the half and .full nights shown in Figs.18'to 23, inclusive, will function in approximately the same manner asthe previously referred to nights when assembled in a conveyer casing ofthe character illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Because of thecircumferential curvature of each night material moving surface, all ofthe material left on the nights after they have moved above-the nowsplitting wedge I 3, see Fig. l, and represented by the character e,willl be spread laterally around the chain links as the nights travelover the uphill quarter section of thel head wheel I2. This action isdue to the fact that no nat area of any appreciable vwidth is providedin the front or outer several ngures that one of the illustrated nightsis notched or cut away to accommodate the trailing, double eared,'end ofits respective chain link and'that suitable securing means, such as nutsand' bolts are employed for anchoring the :nights to their respectiveattachment lugs. The

chain link notches of the nights shown in Figs. 1 tol?, inclusive, areformed with straight edges. 'ihe notches of the nights shown 18 to 23,inclllivt, are provided with curved edges. It will be appreciated,however,

' ,Y that the curved edges of these latterngures may be madestrsightwltnout'modirying the mode of operation of the nights.

Itjis believed that the mode of operation of the several conveyerassemblies will `be fully understood from the detail description whichwas specincally given in connection with the disclosures of Figs.v 1 and2, as this detail description -sbould be considered as applying to allof the ,formsof the invention. It should not be necesisary, therefore,to repeat this.detailed -description for each modification.

It will be appreciated that 'all of the conveyer mechanisms illustratedbythe several figures,` and described above, are adapted to transportnowable solid materials in bulk by means of solid nights which are soshaped and so attached to their respective links of the on chains as toen'ect complete emptying of all ofthe con- Yveyed material ontoappropriate portions of an inclined discharge chute either as a resultof withdrawal of the lateral support afforded by the Vcasing or as aresult of the travel of the nights around the uphill quarter Vsection ofthe head wheel. Because of this fact. no material will be carried overto the return leg of the casing and the maximum capacity for a givenconveyer may be obtained. Due to the use of half nights in transportingmechanisms disclosed and described above, the nights are attached 'attheir inner or rear edge'portions to the chain links and the materialmoving surfaces of all nights are propverly shaped to en 'ectgravitational discharge o f assura the conveyed materials laterally andoutwardly 4of the path of the chain when the lateral support afforded bythe casing is withdrawn, thereby reducing to a minimum the percentage ofthe materials which is spilled in an inward direction around the chainas the nights pass over the uphill quarter section of the head wheel.Due

to the fact that all portions of the material moving surfaces of thenights are inclined toward the path of travel of the chain or sloperearwardly with respect tc the direction of travel of the chain, noJumping or vibrating of the nights will occurk as a result of draggingtheir outer edges over the walls of horizontally arranged casing legs.Wherever full nights are employed, either by themselves or incombination with half nights, the material transporting mechanism willsuccessfully operate to clean out or empty vertically extending casinglegs regardless of the character of material being handled. .Withcertain materials, possessing extremely free flowing characteristics, itis sometimes dinicult to quickly and completely clean out verticalcasing legs if nothing but half nights are employed. These dinicultiescan be completely overcome, however, by employing one or more fullnights in combination with the half nights. l

It is to be understood that the forms of this invention herewith shownand described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, andthat various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to vwithout departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention I claim:

1. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a casing leg having an inner wall and asingle transmission chain adapted to travel a path adjacent said wall,of a plurality of nights spaced along said transmission chain andattachecl thereto to project away from said casing wall, said nightseach having a marginal notch to accommodate the transmission chain andbeing shaped'to provide a material moving surface that is formedentirely of a plurality of surface portions which are inclinedrearwardly of their4 direction of travel and in a'plurality ofangular-ly arranged directions with respect to the transmission chainand with the most advanced edges of said portions defining said notch,which the trailing edges are all arranged in a common plane which isnormal` to the path of travel of the transmission chain. v

2. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a casing leg having an inner wall and asingle transmission chain adapted to travel a path adjacentsaid wall,of;a plurality of nights spaced along said transmission chain andattached thereto to project away from said casing wall, each of saidnights having an exterior material moving surface that is formedentirely of a plurality of angularly related surface portions inclinedaway from the transmission chain and toward the plane which-is normal tothe said casing wall and is common to 'the extreme Outer. trailing edgesof alll of said surface portions.'

3. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting flowable solid materialsin bulk,l a nexible transmission member, and a. series 'of nights spacedalong said member and attached thereto to project from-only one sidethereof, each ofv said nights being shaped so that all portions'of itsexterior material moving surface are inclined to spill material bygravity over the outer edges of the night when the transmission memberis traveling in a vertical path, said surface portions for certain onesof said nights being arranged relative to each other so that theirdirections f inclinationl will spill the material in three dinerentdirections relative to the path of travel of the transmission memberwhile the said surface portions for the remaining nights are arrangedrelative to eachother so that their' directions of inclination willvspill the material in two dinerent directions relative to the path oftravel of the transmission member.

4. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a substantially vertical casing leg, and anexible transmission member to travel a path adjacent one wall thereof,of a series of nights spaced along said member and attached thereto toproject from said one casing wall, all of said nights having exteriormaterial moving surfaces which are inclined to spill material by gravityover the outer edges of the nights away from the path of travel of thetransmission member, each one of said nights having all of its outermaterial spilling edges terminating in a common plane, certain adjacentnights of said series being of a size to only partially nll thecross-sectional area of the casing and being staggered with respect toeach other so as 'to only partially overlap in the direction of travelof the transmission member and having their exterior material movingsurfaces inclined to spill material in two general directions, theremaining nights of the series being of a size to substantially nll thecross-section of the casing and having their exterior material movingsurfaces inclined to spill material in three general directions, each ofsaid latter nights being arranged to completely overlap any adjacentflight in the series in the direction of travel of the transmissionmember.

5. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a substantially vertical casing leg, and anexble transmission chain having a plurality of articulated links andadapted to travel through said casing leg, of a series of nights spacedalong said chain and attached to its links,l all of said nights havingexterior material moving surfaces which are inclined to spill materialby gravity over the outer edges of the nights away from the path oftravel of the transmission chain, each one of said nights having all ofits outer material spilling edges trrminating in a common plane. certainadjacent nights of said series being of a size to only partially nll thecross-sectional area of said casing leg and Abeing staggered withrespect to each other so as to only nartially overlap in the directionof the length of the transmission chain and having etheir exteriormaterial moving surfaces inclined io spill material in two generaldirections, the

remaining nights of the series being of a size to substantially nll thecross-sectional area of the casing leg and having their exteriormaterial moving surfaces inclined to spill material in three generaldirections, each of said latter nights being arranged to completelyoverlap any ediacent night in the series in the direction of the lengthot' the transmission chain.

6. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a substantially vertical casing leg ofrectangular formation in section, and a nexible transmission memberadapted to travel a path adjacent one wall of said casing, of a seriesoi solid nights spaced along said member and attached thereto, all ofthe nights of the series having exterior material movingA surfaces whichare inclined with respect to their direction of travel, so as to spillmaterial in a plurality' of general directions, certain ofathe nights ofthe series being of a size to 'substantially nll the cross-sectionalarea of the casing, all of the remainingnights of the series being of asize to nll only a fractional portion of the crosssectional area of thecasing nlled by the nrst specifically mentioned nights, adjacent ones ofsaid last mentioned nights being staggered with respect to each other.

7. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a substantially vertical casing leg ofrectangular formation in section, and a nexible transmission chainhaving a plurality of articulated links adapted to travel a pathadjacent one wall of said casing, of .a series of solid nights spacedalong said chain and attached to the links thereof, all of the nights ofthe series having exterior material moving surfaces which are inclinedwith respect to their direction of travel, certain of the nights of theseries being of a size to substantially nll the cross-sectional area ofthe casing, all of the remaining nights of the series being staggeredand of a size to nll only a fractional portion of the cross-sectionalarea .of the casing nlled bythe nrst specifically mentioned nights, andall of the nights of the series being arranged and being of proper sizeto at least partially overlap adjacent .nights in the direction oftravel of the transmission chain.

8. In a conveyer, or the like, for transporting nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a casing, and a nexible transmissionmember adapted to travel through said casing, of

a series of solid nights spaced along said transmission member andattached thereto, each one of the nights of the series having its entireexterior material moving surface inclined with respect to the directionof travel of the night, certain of the nights of the series being of asize to substantially nll the cross-sectional area of thevcasing, all ofthe remaining nights of the series being staggered and of a size to nllonly a fractional portion of the cross-sectional area ofthe casing.

9. In a conveyer,v or the like, for transportirm nowable solid materialsin bulk, the combination with a casing, 'and a nexible transmissionmember adapted to travel through said casing. of a series of solidnights spaced along said transmission member and attached thereto, eachone of the nights of the series having its entire material movingsurface inclined with respect tn the direction of travel of the night,certain of the nights of the series being of a size io substantially nllthe cross-sectional area of the casing, all of the remaining nights ofthe series being staggered and of a size to nll only a fractionalportion of the cross-sectional -area of the casing, adjacent ones ofsaid remaining nights being arranged to collectively bridge thecrosssectional area of the casing except for the necessary marginalclearance. WILLIAM W. SAYERS.

